


A Catchphrase

by Floof_yes



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2019-10-08 01:18:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17376806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Floof_yes/pseuds/Floof_yes
Summary: What would have happened if Fernald had told Count Olaf how he really felt?Fix-it AU because I want my OTP to have a chance of happiness.Set in the Slippey Slope. Also a certain character most people in the fandom love dies, so warning.





	1. 1

Out of the corner of his eye, Fernald saw Sunny escaping. Esmé was quick to notice and soon put her back in, securing the _Baby Jail_ so that Sunny was not likely to escape again.  
“I'm in love with your girlfriend.” The bald man admitted.  
“Eww.”  
Esmé sat beside Olaf, folding her arms in amusement. The hook-handed man didn’t quite catch on to what Orlando was saying, but Olaf finally pointed to him and he knew it was now or never. He looked sincerely into Olaf's eyes from where he sat.  
_“I'm in love with you!”_  
“In love with _me?”_ Esmé interjected. “I already have a boyfriend. I don’t need _two more_ freaks gushing over me. Although... I do always like a bit of attent-“  
“I was talking to the boss.”  
All eyes turned on Fernald, and then on the Count. Olaf shuffled uncomfortably on the car, his expression unreadable.  
“Don’t be ridiculous, Hooky, Olaf is taken and _my_ boyfriend.”  
Olaf stood up and looked down at Fernald, conflicted in his gaze.  
“Darling, don’t listen to him. He's obviously just tying to get attention. All of your troupe members just want attention!” Esmé hissed. “We should throw them all off the mountain!”  
“Don’t be absurd Esmé.” Olaf hissed, his cheeks dusting with red. “I need them to help me with my villainous schemes!”  
“You're blushing. You _do_ like him!”  
Fernald stood up, his hooks fidgeting. “Can we please stop the arguing?”  
“Certainly.” Esmé grinned. She strutted towards the hook-handed man and took his arm. “I'm going to throw you off.”  
Count Olaf gasped, hesitating and then deciding to make a move. As Esmé drew closer to the slippery slope with Fernald lashing out against her, Olaf got a tight hold on the other man and held his ground.  
“Esmé, get away from the edge. This is ridiculous.”  
“It's not ridiculous. _It's IN!”_  
Fernald tripped and almost lost his balance. Esmé growled and then threw her whole force against Fernald. Some snow-covered rocks gave way. Olaf held tightly on to Fernald's arm. Esmé stepped on the rocks giving way and plummeted down the ice waterfall. Olaf was too late to catch onto her. The two stared down the edge in bewilderment as her screams echoed all across the hinterlands. It was all so sudden.  
“Holy _shit.”_ Olaf gasped as Esmé's screams stopped. He fell onto his knees and stared down the waterfall, cringing at what he saw below. His glossy blue eyes held no emotion. “She's gone...”  
“I’m so sorry, boss.” He shouldn’t take the blame, but he didn’t know what Olaf was feeling or how to comfort him now.  
He wrapped Olaf in his arms; and to his surprise, Olaf hugged him back.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fernald attempts to cheer up his boss with a nice meal of salmon. But he comes to realise that staying with his boss might be the hardest decision he's ever made.

When the two finally stood up in utter shock, all that remained was the bald man staring mournfully at them.  
“Wait...” Olaf snapped back into reality, also embarrassed by the act of affection he'd just received from his henchperson. “Where's the baby? And the troupe?” _The Baby Jail_ had been destroyed. His car was also missing.  
“You killed Esmé,” the bald man muttered mournfully. “We're not gonna wait around any longer to see who gets murdered next. It was fun being an actor, but we can’t keep running around the country like this.”  
“It wasn’t my fault. She tried to push Hooky off.” Olaf murmured grumpily. “Just tell me where the baby went!”  
“You mean Sunny? She left with the others, and the freaks are gone too. And now there's a deep wound in my heart... now that Esmé is gone.”  
_“MY FORTUNE!”_ Olaf gasped, hovering a hand in shock.  
Fernald put a comforting hook on Count Olaf's shoulder; his boss was growing more infuriated by the minute.  
_“NO!_ THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!” He screamed, kicking the snow aggressively and wincing. The bald man didn’t stand around any longer to see Olaf's tantrum. He slipped away and ran down the slippery mountain path to the revving car. Fernald's boss looked completely torn.  
The hook-handed man had a very important decision to make. He could either be rid of Olaf's evil scheming and run to the others while Olaf was having a breakdown, or he could stay and be as supporting as possible. It didn’t take him too long to decide — he chose the latter.  
Olaf fell onto his knees and let out an exasperated sigh.  
“I'll make us something to eat.” Fernald said cheerfully, trying to look on the bright side. Olaf stared down at the cold hard ground and stammered. He'd been struck down with grief, and not even Fernald could fathom what tempers it would bring.  
“Sure.”  
The hook-handed man headed over to a frozen river, his shoulders feeling heavy with the burdensome worry of having to possibly care for his boss all by himself. Olaf was extremely incapable of taking care of himself without the assistance of someone else; and this was on a mountain. He turned back to see Olaf sitting on the edge of the slope, presumably mourning the loss of his dead girlfriend. Fernald knew there would be an abundance of large healthy salmon at this time of the year, so as he plunged his arms into the frosty chilled water, he attempted to find the best for his boss. 

“Are you ready to eat? It's getting dark.”  
“Someone beat me to it.”  
“Huh?”  
“Look down there.” Olaf pointed down the slippery slope. The VFD Headquarters had been next to Mount Fraught the entire time. “What's the fucking point anymore?” His greyish-brown hair blew in the gentle evening breeze.  
“I'm so sorry. Uh, why don’t you come and eat something? It'll lift your spirits!”  
Olaf wiped his eyes discreetly and shakily stood up.  
“Boss, are you crying?” Fernald's warm voice made the situation ten times more awkward. Olaf snorted and sat down on one of the logs beside the campfire. “It's okay to cry, y'know? I used to do it all the time. I-“  
“I wasn’t crying, Hooky.”  
“It's Fernald.”  
“Hm?” Olaf raised an eyebrow, still staring into the dancing lights of the roaring fire.  
“My-my name. I told you that once, a long time ago.”  
“I'm not good with names.” Olaf murmured impudently. Fernald exhaled, brining over a large chopped piece of salmon on a wooden plate.  
“I know it's not much, but it tastes _delicious!”_  
“I may as well join Esmé. Everything is literally hopeless now. I have no one.”  
Fernald placed a hook on Count Olaf's shoulder. “You have me.”  
_I can make a move, or regret it later. Yet again, I might regret doing something now. But you only live once I guess._ Fernald zoned out for a second, while Olaf helped himself to some salmon, wincing; clearly he didn’t like the taste. The broken man's henchperson shuffled closer, and embraced Olaf in a gentle hug. Strangely enough, Olaf didn’t fight back.  
He just melted into Fernald's arms and continued to keep his mysterious blue eyes on the blazing campfire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for all the support I’ve gotten so far with this fic. :) I know Ferlaf surely isn’t the most popular ship out there, but all of you who have read this far have my gratitude <3  
> It's school holidays for me, so I’ll definitely be starting on chapter three soon. Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone has a great day!
> 
> I'm probably gonna be creating art for this; my Tumblr is @honestlycountolafistoohandsome

**Author's Note:**

> This was super fun to write! All I can really say is  
> F E R L A F R E A L  
> Chapter 2 coming out soon! :)


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